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Army veteran comes to aid of injured woman stuck out on her deck

Betty Andrae, 81, stepped out onto her deck Tuesday evening, slipped on some ice, fell down and broke her hip. She spent 45 minutes hollering for help before an Army veteran heard her and scaled an eight-foot deck to come to her aid.

Betty Andrae, 81, is recovering this weekend in a Pacific rehabilitation facility.

The Pacific resident stepped out onto her deck Tuesday evening, slipped on some ice, fell down and broke her hip. Even worse, when she went outside, she left her cell phone and her life alert device behind.

Only her dog, Brownie, was by her side.

"I laid there and just screamed, and I said somebody please answer me," said Andrae. "I couldn't move my legs. I just laid there and screamed because I couldn't move my leg. My legs hurt so bad, and I just wanted somebody to come and tell me that it was okay."

It was not okay. Andrae lay there for at least 45 minutes, hollering for help.

Evan Whitlock heard her.

"I heard something, so I stopped," said Whitlock, an Army veteran who served 3 tours of duty in Iraq. "I heard 'Help!' I just tried to narrow down where it was so I went down the hill."

Whitlock and his family live in a neighboring subdivision. His home faces the back of Andrae's home, but it's about the length of two football fields away. Their subdivisions are separated by an earthen hill, some trees, and a creek.

"She was conscious," he said. "She was talking to me; I kept asking her questions."

Whitlock climbed up on the 2nd-story deck and came to Andrae's aid. He called 911 and opened the doors so ambulance crews could get to her.

Angie Sudduth is Andrae's granddaughter.

"He was pretty diligent, pretty adamant in helping her," said Sudduth. "It could have been so much worse. When I got to the hospital, she just kept saying, 'I'm just so cold.' Thank you, thank you, to Evan for what he did."